The use of integrated circuits in electronic devices has increased dramatically in recent years. Integrated circuit arrangements contain a substrate, the surface of which forms a main area, and multiple integrated electronic components arranged at the main area. The components are arranged in the substrate and are isolated from the substrate by a solid electrically insulating region when an SOI technique (silicon on insulator) is used. Channels are formed in the substrate and are arranged along the main area to cool the arrangement. Such a coolant circuit arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,472, for example. The circuit arrangement explained therein contains cooling trenches oriented parallel to one another which have been etched into a chip and in which a coolant is transported. The trenches are covered with a covering plate such that channels arise. Water is used as coolant. The water is pumped through the cooling channels with the aid of an external pump.
With the increase of usage of the integrated circuit arrangements, the demand for miniaturization of these arrangements has also correspondingly increased. The generation of heat in integrated circuit arrangements and unsatisfactory heat dissipation may restrict the performance of processors and of radiofrequency assemblies and decrease reliability as the electrical power density and integration density increase. Cooling is more effective the closer the cooling medium can be brought to the heat source, since, as the integration density increases, the thermal resistance of the substrate increases proportionally to the number of heat sources distributed in the component layer. However, as the integrated circuit arrangements become miniaturized to a greater extent, cooling of the integrated circuit arrangements by means such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,472 has become more problematic. In particular, the cross section of the channels is relatively large and the cooling structure independent of the medium used to cool the arrangement. Also, the addition of a further element, a covering plate, increases the fabrication time and expense. Moreover, often a cooling mechanism is used to force flow of the cooling medium. This cooling mechanism can be a pump having moving parts in which wear occurs over time, or a pump that is operated using an electric current, thereby increasing the power consumption of the overall circuit.
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